The Dire Importance of Teaching Children Pedestrian Safety
Teaching children various forms of pedestrian safety methods is important for their wellbeing.
For starters, the urban planning in major cities in the United States leaves much to be desired. It truly is dangerous for children to be walking around these streets.
And the statistical data available supports this claim:
According to the CrashStats published by National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 176 pedestrian traffic fatalities were children in 2021.
And with the pedestrian fatality rate in the state of California higher than the national average by 25% per the Office of Traffic Safety, this means that child pedestrians should optimize various safety strategies in order to protect themselves from harm.
As parents and guardians, it is your responsibility to take on the role of teaching pedestrian safety to children. In this blog, we will go through some of the things you should do to ensure that your children know what to do when walking through these streets alone.
First, we will briefly walk through the basics in understanding pedestrian safety for young children, the common risks and hazards that our little pedestrians could come across in their sidewalk trip, as well as the role that parents and guardians have in instilling safe pedestrian habits for children.
In the end, we hope to give you some guidance on what to do when instilling some good habits for your little pedestrian.
Understanding the Basics of Children Pedestrian Safety
Pedestrian safety methods are paramount for children, but what is that exactly?
Basically, pedestrian safety methods are preventative measures one does to get themselves out of harm’s way. Things in the road could get pretty convoluted and unpredictable. But helping children learn pedestrian safety is one way we can help alleviate our worries about any potential harms that may come their way.
Children are impressionable beings. They don’t have much experience with life just yet, so they need a more seasoned guardian or parent to help them navigate the world. One of the responsibilities they need to fulfill is teaching pedestrian safety skills to children.
As the responsible adult in this dynamic, you will need to teach them how to cross intersections safely, the rules and norms of the sidewalk, and how they should interact with the people on the road to optimize safety.
Here are 8 things you should keep in mind if you’re thinking about instilling effective pedestrian safety methods in your children’s minds.
8 Ways To Teach Kids About Pedestrian Safety
1. Modeling Responsible Pedestrian Behaviors
As mentioned before, children are impressionable human beings. They do not have that much life experience informing them how they should act during certain situations, like walking alone as a young pedestrian.
By default, it is your responsibility to model good pedestrian behavior to them. They look up to you for guidance. So apart from teaching them how to be a safe pedestrian, you need to be a safe pedestrian yourself. Walk that talk.
Doing the opposite of what you’re teaching them may confuse them, further dissuading them from instilling the habits necessary for their safety on the road.
2. Instilling Good Pedestrian Safety Methods Early On
Children’s minds are like sponges. They absorb information pretty easily, so it’d bode well on your part if you’re teaching them how to be good pedestrians at an early age. Their minds are pretty flexible, which could be a good thing. But it also has some downsides.
Not exposing them to good pedestrian habits early on gives leeway for them to develop bad habits. So if you yourself aren’t modeling what a responsible pedestrian does on the road, then you need to make some adjustments.
Fact of the matter is, children are generally curious about the world around them. By observing people, they learn things without being deliberately taught. Be ahead of the curve and teach them to be responsible on the sidewalks yourself.
3. Explaining The Sidewalk Etiquette To Them In A Simple Way
Generally speaking, children are able to learn things if they are explained in a simple way. So when teaching them sidewalk etiquette, make sure to incorporate some fun and easy-to-remember phrases.
For example, adding the short, simple, yet fun “red means stop, green means go” on their vocabulary could truly go a long way when getting them out of harm’s way.
4. Practicing Pedestrian Safety Methods With Them
Going back to what was said in tip #1, children are impressionable human beings who need some guidance. Having someone to not only follow, but also directly give them instructions on what to do or what not to do as a pedestrian helps out tremendously in their learning process.
5. Role Playing Scenarios
It’s highly-encouraged for parents to heed tip #4 and be with their little pedestrians as they’re learning. However, sometimes, going outside with your children just to practice safety methods may not be possible.
Instead you could go over scenarios with your little ones to practice. Run through a list of common occurrences they may run into when they’re on the crosswalk alone.
You could go over sidewalk etiquette, roleplay how they should cross intersections, as well as the importance of eye contact (more on this below. See Tips #6 and #7 respectively).
But remember, treat this as a supplementary learning method instead of a total replacement to tip #4. Nothing beats hands-on learning, however, this tip may further bring home the importance of following sidewalk etiquette.
6. Teaching Them How To Cross The Intersections
One of the things you could practice with them is crossing the road. While it is true that California Pedestrian Jaywalking Laws have eased as of 2023, it’s important to emphasize the dangers of jaywalking. Tell them about all the catastrophic injuries they could get if they jaywalk.
It’s a fact that jaywalking puts them at a higher risk of traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury or worse, wrongful death.
There are several things you could do to ensure that they are crossing intersections safely. One, you should tell your children to cross the road using the designated pedestrian lane. If it’s red, wait for it to turn green.
Two, if there’s no protected light, tell them to look left and right first before crossing.
7. Teaching The Importance of Eye Contact
Whenever you’re on the sidewalk, one of the things you could do to instill safety practices for your little pedestrian is to teach them the importance of eye contact. People don’t have to say anything to communicate, and this is something that they should understand as well.
Making eye contact on the road is important for pedestrian safety because it signals the other party that their presence is acknowledged and seen. And if they make eye contact back, then they’re signaling the same to you.
This is especially important when trying to cross the road. If your child locks eyes with a driver and vice versa, for example, then both have acknowledged each other’s presence. This then tells both parties to share the road amongst each other —all without saying a word!
Once this connection has been established, the driver would usually stop and the pedestrian (your child in this case) can then safely walk across the street.
8. Telling Them The Importance of Avoiding Distractions
Another plague to pedestrian safety is distractions — basically, anything barring them from focusing on the task at hand (walking). It’s important for children to be focused on walking safely. They have little coordinations compared to adults, and distractions may just exacerbate this problem and compromise their safety.
Using their phones or listening to music are prime examples of distractions. Both activities plug them out of their environment and put them at risk for accidents. For example, if a driver is gesturing for them to get out of the way and honking their horns, partaking in such distractions may delay their reaction time.
Call Omega Law Group
Indeed, it is important to teach kids how to be responsible pedestrians. But no matter how much learning they do, accidents may still happen. They could follow every traffic signal as instructed, but some reckless driver could still put their lives at risk.
For this reason, you will need a reliable elite personal injury law firm on speed dial. You will need to call Omega Law Group.
With more than millions of dollars accrued in compensation for their clients, the highly-empathetic and highly-skilled attorneys at Omega Law Group are the best team for your child’s pedestrian accident case.
The founding partners of Omega Law Group have been featured in prestigious publications the Los Angeles Times and Los Angeles Business Journal for the strides they’ve made in the industry.
Just recently, they were heralded as one of the “Most Admired Firms” to work for by the Business Journal, and they have also made headlines in the magazine for their progressive integration of AI technology to streamline their caseload.
They are dedicated to helping their clients get the justice they deserve. The firm stands firm in their endeavor to provide quality and equitable services for all, no matter their clients’ financial backgrounds.
Which is why they still operate on a contingency-fee basis so that their clients don’t have to pay upfront for their legal services.
Schedule a free legal consultation with our elite pedestrian accident team to learn more.